Chapter 23- Slow Start

The long-anticipated morning finally arrived. Team Odd and Team Even were up and ready to behind the second round. Drones started swarming the entire island just like they did in the first round. Through the drones, King Almon announced the beginning of the second round, Capture The Flag. "IT IS NOW 7 AM. CAPTURE THE FLAG OFFICIALLY STARTS NOW!" he shouted excitedly. The king didn't try to hide the excitement on his face. "For years I wanted to change the second round from a race to something more fun. I've never enjoyed any of the previous Dragon Hunts like I do this one" He said. Miya overheard her father and added, "There's a chance your candidate will die you know. Wipe that smile off your face".

King Almon ignored her and watched the giant screen in the private room. Over on Team, Even everyone started complaining about how hungry they were. "This sucks, I haven't eaten anything from yesterday" complained Oden.

"I can't believe no one carried any food along with them. Yall suck" a red-haired man added. He proceeded to take out a chocolate bar he had in his top pocket and broke it into four pieces. He gave Uranus and May but then wondered who to give next. "Sorry guys, this won't do for all of us" the man apologized.

"That's fine Xavier, it's better than nothing I'd say," Uranus said as he handed his piece of chocolate to Oden. Xavier agreed and gave the two other chocolate pieces to Helius and Victor. "Are you sure about this? You haven't eaten anything since yesterday Xavier" asked Victor worriedly.

Xavier shrugged off his worries by biting his lips. It's a bad habit he's developed since childhood. Whenever he does this nothing seems to bother him. Whether he's in a huge amount of pain, or starving to death, biting his lips lets him forget about all that. Uranus closed his eyes and linked his eyesight with one of Team Odd. "Cj, what are you doing right now?" he wondered. Uranus linked his sight with Cj's and he was furious with what he saw.

SHIT! SHIT!" Uranus shouted out loud.

In front of Uranus's eyes are loaves of bread with butter along with a gallon of water. "Where the hell did they get those from?" Uranus asked confused. "While we're over here starving they are having a feast! That can't be fair" he shouted. He called over a nearby drone and asked "Why do they have food? Did you give it to them?".

The drone quickly replied "Don't be silly. We didn't give them any food. They were just prepared. Unlike you, there was a certain boy who broke his back carrying a heavy backpack. What did you think was in it?"

The drone flew off with Uranus feeling defeated. Oden walked up to him and patted his back. "I forgot about Cj. The boy's more resourceful than he looks you know. In the first round, he handed me a loaf of cornbread. Wow was it delicious? We're still going to win this" said Oden confidently. Uranus slapped both his cheeks and asked for his teammate's attention.

"If we try to attack their home base today we will definitely lose. The good thing is that this round doesn't have a time limit. Here's the plan, I want our Roamer Xavier to focus on gathering food and bringing it back to home base for today. They can't harm the Roamer in any way as long as he doesn't attack first. Even if all of the enemy team surrounds Xavier they can't do anything" said Uranus.

"Will I be accompanied by anyone else?" Xavier asked.

"No, anyone other than you will just be attacked. We are all hungry right now. " Uranus replied.

May and Helius who didn't touch their piece of chocolate left decided to give it back to Xavier. "There are many trees out there with different fruits and vegetables. Some I've never even seen before. Just know this before you start hunting for food. I'm allergic to mangoes" May stated. Uranus gave Xavier the jacket he had on yesterday to use as a bag. Xavier felt a lot of pressure but he tried his best to hide it. He bit his lips the entire time when his teammates were talking to him.

"If I fail this mission then we're doomed. We can't fight on an empty stomach" Xavier thought. Even biting his lip wasn't enough to stop his heart pumping at an insane rate. Xavier walked out of the house looking intensely at the flag. "Whatever happens just don't die Xavier," he told himself.

Meanwhile over on Team Odd Lethal Sniper and Isaac got into an argument. Isaac was trying to persuade Fei into joining his gang and Lethal overheard him. She wanted to shoot a bullet in Isaac's skull so bad she drew out a gun nobody knew she had. A brown and silver-colored handgun suddenly appeared in her hands. "You're going to stay six feet away from Fei at all times from now on. You understand me?" the sniper threatened. Isaac turned his face towards Fei and asked "Is this woman your mom or something? She's behaving as she know you for a long time". Fei pulled Lethal back and tried to calm her down but Isaac continued to provoke her. "Sad people like you are always a treat to see get killed. You're not going to survive this round" Isaac grinned. Isaac's words made Lethal pull the trigger at his head. The bullet shot traveled at Mach speed it was impossible to intersect it. The instant the bullet made contact with Isaac's forehead it turned into dust. Although the bullet didn't pierce his skull, Isaac's flesh still burnt from the bullet making contact.

"AAAH! That hurt you bitch" Isaac cried.

Cj inhaled deeply relieved that he made it in time to destroy the bullet. "You two are going to ruin our team's rhythm. Here I thought Fighters and Supporters are the two roles who should get along with each other well" Cj said disappointedly. Fei held on to Lethal and told her "Let's calm down ok. I have no interest in joining his gang. Don't go overboard please" said Fei. "One of my men must have done something bad to her. Hahaha, if I find out who that person is I am going to give them a raise" said Isaac.

"Isaac shut up, from here on out I don't want to see any of you fighting against each other. It's counterproductive. I don't know about you but I want to win" Cj said strongly. Terry nodded in agreement and dragged Isaac by the ear. "Involving a little boy into your line of work is wrong," Terry remarked.

Everyone was talking to each other except for Alisa. She sat by herself reading the rule books over and over. "Supporters aren't allowed to initiate harm first. I can't be by myself or else I'm screwed" she thought to herself. That one thought has been taunting her since yesterday. Fei noticed Alisa's stressed-out expression so he walked towards her.

"Are you still having trouble with your partner or are you stressed out about something else?" Fei asked.

"Hmm, Lisa told me not to use my own abilities this round so I'm worried. Just how useful will I be" said Alisa. Fei tilted his head slightly to the right and gave her an intense stare. He asked for one of her palms then started rubbing his right index finger in it. He rubbed his finger in a circular motion for around ten seconds before he rammed his finger through her hand. In an instant her eyes turned from blue to red and Alisa was replaced with Lisa.

"Hey, could you do me a favor?" Fei asked.

"What's that?"

Lisa wanted to choke the life out of Fei but she overheard the rule of no fighting amongst teammates. "You got off lucky this time," Lisa said softly. "I know, I know, I want you to write her a message. Let her know that you're with her" Fei said.

Cj and Joey walked over astonished by Alisa. "Wasn't your left eye blue a second ago? That's strange." Cj said curiously. "This isn't Alisa guys. It's Lisa, they're sharing a body it seems. It's different from a split personality disorder. Two actual souls are in one body" explained Fei.

"WOAH!"

"Interesting"

"Unlike the angel Alisa this beast here can outdo anyone when it comes on to physique" Fei complimented. "Show me," Joey and Cj said simultaneously. Lisa turned her face away from them but they still stood before her waiting patiently. She eventually gave in and tensed up her muscle a little. "I push this body beyond its limits a bunch of times," said Lisa.

"Yes, yes, perfection. Seeing strange gifts like these is entirely why I'm here" said Joey.

"Really, that's it," Fei said surprised.

"Yeah, the dragon potion is just a bonus. Plus I want to see how this dragon looks like. I can't pass up this opportunity. Once you make it to the final round you have the privilege of seeing it" Joey said excitedly.

After an hour of annoying Lisa with conversation, she finally reverted back to Alisa. "Damn, she's gone," Cj said upsettingly. Cj and Joey walked off after that leaving Alisa and Fei by themselves. Fei showed a small note on the rule book's cover.

"I'm here with you. You won't die while I'm here so stop worrying. Go out there and do your best. Your love Lisa" she read out loud.

"Love? How sweet" Fei said. Alisa realized that Fei did the trick he used three weeks ago to contact Lisa. She bowed her head and thanked him. "I owe you. I feel much better now thanks to you" she smiled. "You not stressing out is payment enough for me".

Cj asked everyone for their attention and told them "It's time we get down to business shall we. It seems that Team Odd won't be making a move today which is good for us. We've eaten while they haven't so their Roamer is focusing on collecting food" said Cj.

"How do you know that?" asked Fei surprised.

"Don't worry about it. I have a reliable friend who is going to make us win this round with ease. I'm gonna kick back and relax today too. I know it's a boring start but deal with it, I'm the leader. Joey as the Roamer you're going to Roam around our hill for safe measures. There's no point in chasing the enemy Roamer since we can't hurt him. I doubt he would be stupid enough to fight us either or else he'd be wasting his privileges" said Cj.

Uranus was shocked to hear that Cj knew what was happening over on his side. He was listening in on Team Odd's conversation for over an hour now making sure that none of them aren't close to Xavier. "Cj! It's either he's watching us too or he has someone cheating for him" Uranus complained.

"Wait, this is actually good for us. Xavier will have an easier time out there!" Uranus sighed. He was relieved at least that they weren't going to attack Xavier.

In the Private Room, King Almon's eyes were locked on Cj. "I have a feeling that this boy is keeping secrets. Every time he looks at his phone he knows what the opponent team is doing. Miya, do you know what he's up to?" The king asked. Miya hesitantly replied, "He has a certain gadget on him. He is not receiving any help from anybody outside.".

"Hmm, fine by me. He's on the same team as Isaac" he laughed. A man in white frowned at the king's behavior. "It's only the first day. Don't assume you've won already. Uranus can do anything he puts his mind to" he said. "Alright Drake, let's make a bet. Forty Million that Team Odd wins" said, King Almon.

"Fifty Million" Drake replied. Gordon joined in the action. "I'm in, Fifty Million on Team Odd" Gordon said. Miya and the other members of the Golden Circle also joined the bet soon after. Even those whose candidates were already eliminated joined the bet through online platforms. When the day was over Joey managed to dig fourteen deep holes with the help of Terry and hid them well with leaves and wood. The wood came from the house they were staying in. If someone steps on the wood then they are doomed to fall into a deep pit that's hard to climb out of. Xavier made several trips to the forest and his home base. He managed to collect many fruits like oranges, cherries, and some herbs that had a sweet smell. He even brought tree branches to use as firewood.

Before the day ended Uranus saw that Lethal Sniper was glaring at Isaac. It's almost like she wanted to just kill him and get it over with. "This girl definitely has something to give him. I wouldn't mind if she would just kill him right now. That would make our lives easy" Uranus giggled at the thought.

Harriot was in the hospital as he watched the second round unfolding on the big screen. His eyes were red enraged with anger. "What the hell!? If the second round is going to move at this rate Sue is going to die before getting the potion. An entire day and barely anything happened" Harriot shouted in his mind. He quickly gave Gordon a call while Sue was asleep and asked "Why isn't there a time limit on the second round?"

"I don't know actually. It was King Almon's idea not mine" said Gordon.

"Damn that old fart. He knows my daughter is in a race against time and he pulls this stunt. Give him the phone if he's near you" Harriot said angrily. Gordon looked beside him and saw King Almon right there. "Sorry, he's not close to me at the moment. I'll be sure to have a talk with him for you" said Gordon. "Jeez, please do. Things need to end soon" said Harriot.

Gordon hung up the phone and asked king Almon "Why isn't there a time limit on Capture The Flag? Do you know about Harriot's daughter?"

"Hahahaha, like I said this second round is to nerf that boy Fei. What do you think will happen if he loses his reason to partake in this competition? He'll quit and that threat will be gone" laughed the king. Gordon along with the rest of the Golden Circle heard what Almon said. Miya stood up shaking in anger for her father. "You're a coward! Let's all take a vote. Should this round have a time limit or should it" Miya shouted.

Everyone was willing to raise their hand in support of Miya but King Almon said something revealing. "Be honest everyone. Do you guys care that much about Harriot's issue? We all want the potion for our own selfish reasons. Why do you care if Harriot doesn't get his way? It's not going to benefit you in any way is it? What's more important? Enjoy the show while watching our candidates win or change the rule just for one person. Capture The Flag has a lot of twists and turns you know. You have no idea what you're doing. Putting a time limit on this round could very well cause your team to lose" said the king. And just like that, no one bothered to raise their hand. They just realized that Harriot's problems have nothing to do with them.

"I can't believe this" Miya said.